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“I was looking for the win because I had seen some positive signs at Laigueglia,” Capecchi said afterwards. “The team tactic was to wait until the last lap, where I was assigned to try and attack. The terrain was suitable, it was just a question of finding the right moment.”

Capecchi attacked near the summit of the final climb, with 4km to ride. He quickly opened up a ten second lead, and then managed to hold onto a slender four-second advantage to the finish as the chasers fought out the sprint behind.

“I put my head down 100 metres from the top with the intention of creating a significant gap,” Capecchi explained. “I knew I was going well and that in the final kilometres I just needed to hang tough. It all worked out, and I’m really, really happy.”

Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) led the chase of Capecchi on the descent of the final climb, but when he took a tumble, it was left to Damiano Cunego to salvage his team's hard work by claiming the sprint for second ahead of the promising Enrico Battaglin.

“In the finale we were well placed, Michele was getting back up to Capecchi and behind them there was a line of riders, including myself and Diego Ulissi,” Cunego said. “Unfortunately, Scarponi’s crash slowed the pursuit of Capecchi and there was no time to catch up.”

Scarponi emerged from the accident unscathed but disappointed that Lampre-ISD missed out on the win. “I’m only consoled by the fact that I wasn’t injured,” he said. “After that, Damiano did well to get second place, but we deserved more.”

Capecchi’s win marks the second year in a row the Liquigas-Cannondale team has triumphed at the GP Lugano, which last year featured Ivan Basso on the top step of the podium. This time, Basso abandoned the race halfway through. “Important races are coming up which must help me improve my condition, I couldn’t run the risk of compromising that,” Basso said.